Now Bouchard gets to talk to Garry Richardson! Some people have all the fun. "I've never really ended a match like that but I'm just happy I kept my emotions. I'm really excited. It's my first grand slam final so I'm just going to go for it."

Eugenie Bouchard wins 7-6, 6-2

Halep won't give this up without a fight and the Romanian wins the first point. But not the next two and Bouchard earns two more match points by putting away a forehand. But would you believe this? Again she tightens up, first missing a backhand, then double-faulting! Are we witnessing one of the all-time chokes? Deuce becomes advantage Halep when Bouchard nets a backhand. But Halep wastes the chance to break back by sending a forehand wide and then whacks a backhand long. This time, there's no escape for Halep, who's unable to return a big Bouchard serve, the Canadian reaching the finishing line at the sixth time of asking! That's it! She's into her first Wimbledon final! Took her time, mind you.

Second set: Bouchard 7-6, 5-2 Halep* (*denotes server): Fatigue is setting in for Halep and she loses the first two points with a couple of errant shots. A stunning backhand down the line makes it 15-30 but a tame backhand into the net gives Bouchard two break points. A bizarre moment follows, Bouchard seeming to stop because of something in the crowd and Halep serving an ace. Bouchard says she was distracted but the umpire awards the point to Halep, which seems to rattle Bouchard, who wastes the second match point by missing a forehand down the line. We go to deuce, but Halep then nets a backhand to bring up a third match point. Again she escapes with a gutsy forehand that skims the line, despite a challenge from Bouchard. From there, Halep holds. What fighting character she's displayed here! No one would have blamed her if she'd thrown in the towel.

Second set: Bouchard* 7-6, 5-1 Halep (*denotes server): Bouchard bangs down the first ace of the match to take a 15-0 lead. Her second makes it 40-30, but she nets a backhand to make it deuce. Despite a double-fault, she holds.

Second set: Bouchard 7-6, 4-1 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep double-faults. She appears to be Murraying. She rouses herself to win the next point with a cracking backhand down the line but Bouchard then romps a forehand down the line. She fights back to 30-all - no thanks to the umpire, who incorrectly says a forehand volley was out, a challenge embarrassing him - but Halep then misses two forehands to hand Bouchard another break. Halep is fading fast.

Second set: Bouchard* 7-6, 3-1 Halep (*denotes server): I'm buzzing. Have you ever just sat there looking at the sky wondering why it's blue and then started doing a few star-jumps and then run around the office for no reason and then stood on your desk and then tried to get the person working to your left to have an impromptu tickle fight? No? Anyone? Just me? Oh. Fine. Back to the tennis, I suppose. Bouchard rolls through the gears and holds to 15, pummelling a forehand down the line on the last point. Halep is in big trouble.

Second set: Bouchard 7-6, 2-1 Halep* (*denotes server): I'm on a sugar high. I feel sick. And Halep isn't feeling too clever when a dismal shot gives Bouchard a 15-30 lead, nor when a double-fault gives up two break points. She saves the first impressively but then double-faults. Oh dear.

Second set: Bouchard* 7-6, 1-1 Halep (*denotes server): I've just been handed a bag of sweets by a colleague, so this game-by-game report could be about to become seriously hypeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee tennniiiiissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second set: Bouchard 7-6, 0-1 Halep* (*denotes server): For Halep, that tie-break fell entirely upon the net cord that robbed her of the mini-break. Nothing she can do about that now. Halep takes it all in her stride and holds confidently to 15.

Eugenie Bouchard wins the first set 7-6

First-set tie-break: Bouchard* 7-5 Halep (*denotes server): But she can't save the second! Bouchard wallops a forehand volley into the corner and there's no reply from Halep! Bouchard is a set away from the final. What an odd set that was. Halep has lost her first of the tournament.

First set: Bouchard 6-6 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep serves to stay in the first set. She wins the first point, but not the second. Bouchard spies an opening. She wrongfoots Halep with a forehand, the Romanian unable to turn her ankle and readjust. But Bouchard can't take advantage. A backhand clips the top of the net but instead of landing on Halep's side, it bobbles back to make it 30-all and Halep produces a couple of inspired shots to force a tie-break.

First set: Bouchard* 6-5 Halep (*denotes server): Bouchard's radar suddenly goes haywire and she wallops two forehands past the baseline to give Halep a 0-30 lead. That's not good at all. But she then powers her way to three consecutive points, surviving a late challenge from Halep on the third, and holds when Halep hits long. Halep will be annoyed with herself.

First set: Bouchard 5-5 Halep* (*denotes server): Serving to stay in the first set, Halep mounts a successful challenge on the first point after a forehand was incorrectly called out. Naughty line judge! How about a new pair of eyes? Halep gets over it by winning the point when Bouchard drills wide, before sailing to 30-0, Bouchard a little uncertain on her feet again on the slippery, frayed surface by the baseline. Bouchard looks out of it at 40-0 but Halep gives her a sniff by double-faulting at 40-30, only to let Halep off the hook by blasting a forehand long.

First set: Bouchard 4-4 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep isn't far off having an entire left leg wrapped in bandages. She's got strapping on her thigh and her ankle. Later she will have to refute rumours she is appearing in The Mummy Goes To Wimbledon alongside Brendan Fraser. And here, she finds herself having to repel the Bouchard charge after the Canadian storms a forehand down the line to earn a break point. She saves it but then has to withstand another after dragging a backhand horribly wide, which she does, knocking a backhand into the right corner for a clean winner. From there, Halep holds thanks to some granite serving.

First set: Bouchard* 4-3 Halep (*denotes server): This is a physical test for Halep and a psychological one for Bouchard, who has to shake off any notions of feeling pity for her stricken opponent. She can't play it safe or try to kill her with kindness, she has to make Halep run, make her try to push off on that left ankle. If your opponent's cut, keep hitting the wound until the bleeding doesn't stop. To be fair, a hold to 15 is just the ticket.

First set: Bouchard 3-3 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep shows no sign of any discomfort at the start of this game, standing in the middle of the baseline and pinging groundstrokes left and right to roll into a 30-0 lead. Bouchard wins the next two points, though. Time for the obligatory shot of Michael Parkinson. That, of course, inspires Halep and she wrongfoots a slipping and sliding Bouchard with a forehand to move to 40-30, but Bouchard strubborns her way to deuce, before goofing a backhand volley into the net to give Halep the advantage, causing some in the press room to observe that "Bouchard is gone". They go back and forth on deuce, but Halep holds.

First set: Bouchard* 3-2 Halep (*denotes server): It's funny, though, more funny hmmm than funny ha ha, how injury to one player affects the other's mindset. In funny hmmm style, Bouchard duly falls to 15-30. But then wins three points in a row to hold, her focus and aim restored to full working order. Halep doesn't look entirely comfortable with her movement yet.

"Time!" calls the umpire. Simona Halep is on her feet again. Her ankle must be feeling tender, but at least it's been mummified. Perhaps that will keep the pain at bay. Legally I am obliged to point out that I don't have a medical degree, so I could be talking out of my hat.

Injury time-out

As soon as that game finished, Simona Halep was grimacing and clutching her left ankle. She appeared to turn it badly when she was chasing down a Bouchard shot and is limping badly as she walks back to her chair, calling for the trainer. This is a terrible shame. The trainer is on, Halep's trainer is off, the tape is out. But Halep looks distressed. This semi-final could be over before it's even got going.

First set: Bouchard 2-2 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep did not have to do a lot to break in that game. It was tight from Bouchard. But now Halep seizes up, dropping the first two points, Bouchard punishing a weak second serve with a crunching forehand. A weak forehand into the net then gives Bouchard two break points, and she jumps at the chance to break back, pulling Halep from left to right on the baseline, the Romanian eventually going for broke and overhitting a backhand.

"Here we are," says Dan Dracea. "The battle of the young generation of female tennis players. I'm to an extent surprised by the fact that many people see Bouchard like having the edge in this one. Halep hasn't put a foot wrong in the last two matches and once she gets into the groove, she is very hard to stop. The Canadian's aggressive style and early-hitting might be neutralised by Simona's brilliant movement on court. Either way, this match has that feeling of "passing the spotlight to the younger generation of players" and may very well be the beginning of a new era in the women's game. I naturally hope (and even think, objectively) that Halep will win."

First set: Bouchard* 1-2 Halep (*denotes server): The atmosphere on Centre Court is subdued. They're still not over Andy Murray's defeat. It's funereal here. When I arrived in the grounds this morning, they were playing Murray's match against Dimitrov on the big screen and people on the hill were watching in silence. How classically, masochistically British. But back to the action here. Bouchard finds herself in something of a quandary at 0-30, sloppiness creeping into her game, before dragging a backhand wide at 30-all to give Halep the first break point. A testing return from Halep unbalances Bouchard and she skews an awkward forehand past the baseline. Halep breaks!

First set: Bouchard 1-1 Halep* (*denotes server): Halep immediately attacks with her two-handed backhand, Bouchard eventually shovelling one of her own past the baseline. Bouchard then takes a backhand return early to steal the next point, but she's not quite got her eye in yet and Halep breezes away with the game. Both players are staying back by the baseline. Whatever happened to serve and volley? Wooden rackets? The grammaphone? Children playing tennis on cobbled streets? What's a selfie? Where am I? What sport is this? I don't even know any more.

First set: Bouchard* 1-0 Halep (*denotes server): Simona Halep won the toss but chose to receive, just because. She can't be doing with serving straight away. Over to Eugenie Bouchard, then. And it's a sublime start from the Canadian, a hold to 15, the highlight a stinging cross-court backhand. She made all her first serves in that game.

The players stand for a few moments by the door leading out on to Centre Court, waiting to make their entrance. They both look utterly focused - and then they walk out, Eugenie Bouchard first, Simona Halep behind her. They're greeted by applause by those supporters still in the ground, a lot of them having disappeared in search of
booze
refreshments. They meet the umpire by the net, he explains the rules of the game to them, in case they had forgotten any of them overnight - you can't be too careful - and then they pose for some pictures. Snappity snap!

Preamble

Afternoon. Eugenie Bouchard is great. Simona Halep is great. And forget what the naysayers nay say, women's tennis is great too. Granted, the serving often leaves much to be desired, but if you allow yourself not to be bothered by the regular breaks, that just adds to the spectacle. Nope, I won't hear anything against the quality of the women's game over the past few years, not after the memories they've left at SW19. There's been the ageless Kimiko Date-Krumm, the legendary Serena Williams, the dynamite, tearful Sabine Lisicki, the hilarious and brilliant Marion Bartoli and a heap of wonderful matches that will stand the test of time. This year, we've had Alize Cornet stunning Serena, Lisicki's shoulder drama, Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams going the distance and Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova heightening the blood pressure to dangerous levels. Who could fail to be invigorated?

And now it's the turn of the new kids on the block. This semi-final feels like a final before the final. Bouchard and Halep are at the forefront of the new wave of emerging talent and both have been playing some fine tennis over the past fortnight. For Bouchard, the 20-year-old Canadian who'd quite like to be a princess if someone could possibly sort that out for her, this is her third consecutive grand slam semi-final. For Halep, it's further confirmation of what a special player this little Romanian with the booming groundstrokes is. Having lost to Sharapova in a spectacular French Open final, she'll be determined to go one step further today. They haven't dropped a set between them yet. Something's got to give.